The Western Heritage Award - Outstanding Western Novel of 2023
2024 IPPY Awards Silver Winner in West Mountain Fiction
2024 Western Heritage Award: Outstanding Western Novel
2023 INDIES Award Finalist in Historical Fiction
2023 Best Book Awards Winner in Fiction: Western

“Reading this book is like reading a diary, with each cherished location and character lovingly described. The reader is immersed in the harshness of living an itinerant life and is shown the quiet beauty that exists in the desert and that can be found even in the most dysfunctional of families.”
—Booklist

“...Josie is a sharp, perceptive lead....Nostalgia overlays the eloquent family saga The Ways of Water, in which a girl is hastened toward independence by tragedy.”
—Foreword Reviews

“Janssen writes in Josie’s voice, which allows readers to get to know her as a brave, complicated woman, and witnessing her growth as a confident person is an engaging experience…Janssen creates a believable West.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“This story flows with twists and turns much like those of a river…The authentic voice, rich sensory imagery, and often lyrical, poetic language create an emotional and descriptive feast.”
—Chanticleer Book Reviews, 5/5 STARS

“Teresa H. Janssen’s beautifully written historical novel captures your heart. With its vivid description, sensuous and poetic detail, you are at one with Josie Belle on every curve and dip of her path. You feel the sting of desert sand on your face and smell the sweet lavender in a baby’s bath. But mostly, you are touched by the strength of Josie’s family and their bond of love which holds them close, if not always in space but in heart. This is a breathtaking story, exquisitely told, that you will not forget.”
—Anne Brooker James, author of The Marsh Bird

“Janssen’s love of her subject radiates in every line of this immersive coming-of-age tale. Spanning the dizzying cycles of boom and bust in the early twentieth century Southwest, the novel is packed with historical detail. . . . Like a riverbed that dries up and refills, the Gore family must first be torn asunder before it can be made whole again. A precarious life is limned with great care and great heart—and with prose that often verges on the poetic.”
—Laurel Davis Huber, award-winning author of The Velveteen Daughter

“An inherently fascinating, deftly crafted and eloquently entertaining saga of a novel from start to finish.”
—Midwest Book Review

“From its captivating beginning to its redemptive end, Teresa H. Janssen's immersive debut, The Ways of Water, weaves a tale of heartache and joy based on family history set in the American Southwest in the early 20th century. Josie Belle Gore embodies every young girl's fears, curiosities, and dreams as she navigates an often-hostile environment and often-volatile family life. One can't help but cheer for her as she overcomes hardships and failure, time and again, on the road (or the rails) to maturity.A five-star debut."
—Ashley E. Sweeney, author of Hardland

“In the vein of William Kent Krueger’s This Tender Land, Teresa H. Janssen seamlessly transports readers into an expertly crafted yesteryear of her grandmother, Josie Belle Gore. As the rivers, creeks and streams flow throughout this land, so too, does Janssen's narrative, recreating the remote, untamed beauty of a region, and the harsh and oftentimes difficult way of life long-past. Janssen honors her grandmother with this exceptional account of the triumph and bravery of a singular young girl who grows into a woman as she makes her own way in the American Southwest.”
—Donna Everhart, author of The Saints of Swallow Hill

“Teresa H. Janssen draws a riveting story that I could not put down. It is reminiscent of Jeannette Walls’s Half Broke Horses and Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds. The prose is exceptional… The imagery is breathtakingly vivid. …But it is the fully fleshed-out characters that will grab the reader and refuse to release them, even long after the reading is complete. I look forward to more from this exciting debut author.”
—Adele Holmes, M.D., author of Winter’s Reckoning

“The enlightening story of a courageous young woman, Josie Belle Gore, and her family as they struggle to survive in the early 1900’s of the America West, where “moving from place to place seemed as natural as the motion of the sun and the moon," as they searched for the next possibility of home. Engrossing and unsettling, this riveting and beautifully told story held my attention from the first vivid page to the last. The Way of Water is a stunning debut!”
—Anna Quinn, author of The Night Child and Angeline

“Building on family lore and deep research, Teresa H. Janssen’s The Ways of Water is a young woman’s poignant coming-of-age story that reveals a fascinating slice of early 20th century life in the American West.”
—Margaret Rosenberg, author of Finding Napoleon: A Novel

“Teresa H. Janssen’s lyrical writing style, narrative voice, and impressive powers of description offer a slice-of-life history lesson that, like all good story-telling, never feels like a lesson. Though faced with daunting hardship, the novel's protagonist, Josie, never loses her determination or sense of self, offering a character worth rooting for. A compelling read for anyone who enjoys thoughtful, well-researched historical fiction.”

—Suzanne Moyers, award-winning author, ‘Til All These Things Be Done

“In this highly emotional and intimate story, the reader is fully engaged in Josie’s personal life and exploits, with numerous negative twists and positive turns.”
—Historical Novel Society

“Janssen is a historian herself, and The Ways of Water is firmly grounded in the history of the times: railroad strikes, the Spanish flu epidemic, revolution and civil war in Mexico, the trauma of losing so many young men in the first World War and the impact of the war on society. If you enjoy well-researched historical fiction, put this engaging debut on your reading list.”
—Cascadia Daily News

“Author Teresa Janssen's novel, The Ways of Water, could be used for a masterclass demonstrating the proper application of the technical elements that go into a novel. From organization and worldbuilding to flow, pacing, and character arcs, this author shows readers how it’s done…Janssen immerses the reader in the story with her prose and descriptions.”
—Lone Star Literary Review